StemCyte, Inc. concluded an exclusive license and commercialization agreement with Academia Sinica, the National Laboratory of Taiwan, for certain proprietary methods and Intellectual Property (IP) related to the treatment of Chronic Stroke with stem cells. This method and IP was pioneered by a team led by Professor John Lin, MD, PhD and members of Academia Sinica. Professor Lin is currently the exclusive collaborator with StemCyte on this indication and method.
"We are delighted to be working with Professor Lin and his team on this critical and broad medical indication," said Ken Giacin, StemCyte's CEO. "Stroke affects millions of people every year throughout the world and can be a debilitating disorder. Securing this agreement with Academia Sinica coupled with related IP that StemCyte owns will allow us to pursue the clinical and potential commercial application of Adult stem cells to treat this disorder."
According to the World Health Organization, chronic stroke is known to affect 15 million people worldwide annually. Professor Lin has been collaborating with StemCyte on this indication and potential method of treatment for 3 years. Through Professor Lin's pioneering efforts, he has completed a Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial and is currently completing the Phase II study. The pre-clinical as well as Phase I study has shown significant improvement in patients and preliminary indications from the Phase II study are also showing improvement. "We are extremely pleased with the improvement of the motor scores of the chronic stroke patients who received the therapy during our Phase I trial and I am confident that we will see similar results in the Phase II clinical trial," said Prof. John Lin, MD, PhD. "We are able to measure significant improvement after only 3 months based on both N.I.H. Stroke Scale and European Stroke scale. I am very confident that this treatment will become the method of choice to treat chronic stroke victims."
StemCyte has the most racially diverse collection of life-giving cell units derived from umbilical cord blood in the world and has successfully developed the leading such bank in Taiwan. With over 1,000 successful transplants using their units worldwide, StemCyte has focused on leveraging its proven publicly banked units to enhance regenerative bio-therapies for major indications affecting blood, nerve, brain and sensitive tissue cells. This exclusive agreement for the IP and commercial method to potentially treat chronic stroke is in addition to the other patent protected methods of optimal cell collection, storage and treatment.
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